Will 'Glee' fall flat or fly again?

“Glee” started off as an exciting new series that was packed with musical numbers and appealed to musical and “dramedy” lovers alike. The choreography-infused musical numbers continued to impress, and viewership grew. Now that half of the cast has “graduated,” “Glee” will either fall flat or find itself renewed, and so far the numbers do not look good.

According to tvbythenumbers.com, “Glee’s” viewership from last year’s season premiere to this year’s has gone from a 4.0 to a 3.3.  This drop in viewership could mean people are just waiting for it to come out on Netflix, or, more likely, die-hard “Glee” fans are losing interest.

But “Glee” still has a chance. If “Glee” manages to spark interest in their musical series they might achieve the viewership they once had, but this will take some work.

Perhaps “Glee” will use this new season to renew itself and reconnect with viewers. Adding new cast members like Melissa Benoist as Marley and Becca Tobin as Kitty might keep viewers interested by emotionally connecting  them to newer characters, after having so many characters leave the show following graduation. “Glee” also has a knack for having guest stars ranging from Gwyneth Paltrow to Britney Spears to spice things up, which they brought to life immediately by having Kate Hudson guest star as a New York Academy of Dramatic Arts dance coach. But guest stars and new faces can only take a show so far.

“Glee” started out as a show dedicated to, well, glee.  It was a quirky show with a group of awkward high schoolers trying to make a club where everyone fit in. As seasons progressed, “Glee” fell in love with high school drama and the teenage experience, from keggers while parents are away to “my new step brother is gay.” Drama has its benefits, of course. Drama keeps fans hooked to the show if they want to see what happens the next week, but making the show’s priority teenage drama takes away from the original idea: television can be musical, and why shouldn’t it be? If “Glee” starts turning into Degrassi and turns away from their roots, viewership is sure to fall out.

Hopefully this does not happen. If “Glee” does fall flat, it would not be the first time. But, if “Glee” finds a new wave to ride on, new actors and actresses to base stories around, more spine-tingling musical numbers to impress viewers and exciting choreography to dance their way to the top, “Glee” will be just fine.